


single superhero seeks

by zauberer_sirin



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Kiss, Future Fic, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 08:50:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13027530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zauberer_sirin/pseuds/zauberer_sirin
Summary: Quake's fans keep asking her for a date. Daisy takes extreme measures to deter them.





	single superhero seeks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BrilliantlyHorrid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrilliantlyHorrid/gifts), [hamsterfactor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hamsterfactor/gifts).



**i.**

The rule of never read the comment section should be applied to, and very especially, to the comment section of other people’s social media. Mack and Yoyo were vividly discussing it while Daisy was trying to wave it away, and Coulson got curious, and that wasn’t a good idea.

“They’re really persistent,” he comments.

Daisy sighs wearily. “Yeah, it’s all _Date me Quake_ this and _Marry me Quake_ that. It’s a drag.”

“And those are the polite ones,” YoYo adds.

Coulson winces a bit and returns Daisy her phone before he catches glimpse of the not-polite ones.

“Can you do something about this? With your… you know?” he waves in the direction of Daisy’s hands, a gesture he hopes she understands as the “your annoyingly strong hacking skills” he means.

“I could, but it’s not like they have done anything wrong,” she says. “I can’t block people just because they keep asking to date me.”

“I bet it happens to Captain America too,” Mack says, trying to be helpful.

“Yes, but it’s not the same…” Coulson wonders out loud.

“They have the perfect excuse because I’m single,” Daisy complains and she sounds a bit sad about it, Coulson thinks, as if she’d rather not be single. He knows it’s been a few years since Lincoln but Daisy never struck him as the kind to let loneliness bother her. Maybe he’s been insensitive thinking that.

“You could say you have a boyfriend,” YoYo suggests. “That’s what I did when the boys in my town wanted something.”

The other three look at her with amazement.

“Really?” Mack asks.

“Hay muchos moscones,” she replies and Mack nods solemnly. Then she turns to Daisy once more. “I can lend you Mack if you need a false boyfriend.”

“Hey,” Mack shrieks.

“Thank you, YoYo but-”

“No thank you, no nothing,” Mack goes on. Coulson thinks he is a little too offended at the idea of playing Daisy’s boyfriend. “No offense but I’m never doing that.”

Daisy holds his gaze, looking slightly annoyed.

“What about Coulson?” YoYo says.

He freezes, and, he doesn’t know, but the possibility sounds… fun, for some reason. But then again, no one could ever buy that Daisy, that Quake, would be dating someone like him.

“I can’t possibly ask Coulson to do something like that,” Daisy explains to YoYo, like it’s not a bad idea, just too big of a favor.

Wait. Isn’t it that bad an idea? It would help Daisy, help her shut down all those creeps in her social media without looking like she was being cold to them, or hurting their feelings. Coulson couldn’t care less about those men’s feelings, but Daisy is a very public figure now - and the face of the Inhuman Rights movement, he knows she doesn’t want anything to become bad press for her or her kind. She’s a woman, and very much not white, she can’t just play mysterious or aloof like the Avengers. She can’t simply insult people on the Internet like Tony Stark. 

So maybe… that is, if she thinks it’s a good idea, Coulson is not against it. He’s very much for anything that would make Daisy’s life a bit less stressful.

He was so lost in those thoughts that he’s missed part of the conversation. Now YoYo and Mack are arguing and he’s not sure if Daisy wants him to pretend to be her boyfriend.

“Maybe Coulson doesn’t want people to think he’s dating Quake,” Mack is saying.

Daisy narrows her eyes at him, but Coulson has the feeling it’s more about the use of her superhero name in a friendly conversation than the content of his words.

“Yes, that would be so unflattering for me,” Coulson says, throwing an amused look in Daisy’s direction. She reacts by flashing him a warm smile, a moment of complicity.

“That’s not what I meant,” Mack tries to argue.

YoYo shrugs. “Well, you were the one so against being Daisy’s fake boyfriend.”

The thing sort of dies there, with the four of them chuckling and seemingly forgetting Daisy’s predicament for the time being. Coulson thinks that’s as far as the whole idea would go, though he’s still worried about those assholes harassing her on Instagram. But it’s Daisy, if she changes her mind she can still make them regret it with her hacking skills.

 

**ii.**

Daisy links her arm with his, which is not a usual thing to happen, and they are in the middle of the hallway in the base.

“Get closer,” Daisy says, leaning into his upper arm.

“What-?”

She holds up her phone, camera mode, and Coulson thinks he gets it.

“You’ve decided to follow YoYo’s advise, uh?”

“Something like that,” she replies, pressing herself closer to him, her hair tickling Coulson’s cheek. She rests her head on his shoulder. It feels intimate, looks joyful. Daisy snatches the picture, a couple of them to make sure. Coulson tries to give it a natural smile and all in all it’s not that hard; he’s amused by the situation, happy to help Daisy, always happy to touch Daisy affectionately, even though they don’t do that very often. Maybe they should, he thinks. Not for a ruse to stop manbabies from harassing her. Even as a friend, not really a boyfriend, it feels good, the way Daisy smiles effortlessly to take the picture - he knows it’s not just because it’s all pretend, he knows she is relaxed with him.

“Is this enough?” he asks.

Daisy studies the picture, turning the phone screen towards him, so he can check. Coulson is a bit surprised at how real it looks, the two of them, he would never guess it’s only to fake a relationship. Their heads together, their smiles, it doesn’t look forced at all. Coulson is tempted to tell her to send a copy to his phone, it’s such a nice picture to have. He’s still doubtful anyone is going to believe Quake could be dating a middle-aged nobody, but this is pretty convincing.

“And uploaded,” Daisy mutters. _Sorry guys, I’m taken_ is the clishéd, but effective caption.

“What made you change your mind?” Coulson asks.

She shrugs.

“You didn’t seem to bothered by the idea,” she says.

“I wasn’t.”

“Well, first of all thank you for agreeing,” Daisy tells him, lowering her voice. They’re in the middle of the base, but there’s no one around. Coulson wonders if she’s embarrassed by the whole thing, but being in a situation where she has to contemplate her much older friend as a romantic prospect, even a fake one (false, as YoYo would put it). “I know I said it didn’t affect me that much but all those comments… they were getting to me.”

Coulson smiles. Of course they were getting to her. How could they not? Just because Daisy is very good at pretending things roll off her back just like that it doesn’t mean he can’t tell the difference. Once upon a time he believed nothing could faze her. Now he knows better.

“You don’t need to thank me. I’m happy to help,” he says.

“And it’s totally reversible, if you find someone you want to date, I’ll just announce Quake is single again.”

“Same if you find someone,” Coulson gently offers.

Daisy makes a bitter snorting noise.

“Yeah, fat chance,” she says. 

She turns around, ready to go on with her day, her hair in a swirl and Coulson remembering how it felt when it brushed against his cheek for just a moment.

 

**iii.**

Daisy turns away from the cameras, her usual shy smile fading as she slips out of the view of their shutter. The news still follow at a distance, waiting to see what Quake is going to do next. The situation was easily defused, Daisy’s brand of saving the world of a more diplomatic nature this cold morning.

“Want to grab something to it?” she asks him. “That café in the corner looks nice.”

“Don’t you want to go back to the base first? The paparazzi are looking,” Coulson tells her.

“Exactly,” she says with a lopsided smirk.

“Oh, right,” he remembers they’re supposed to be dating and guesses national news is a lot more convincing than Instagram pictures.

“I’m sorry,” Daisy says, reading his surprise wrong. “You didn’t sign up for fake boyfriend responsibilities.”

She turns her face away, looking guilty.

“I don’t mind fake boyfriend responsibilities,” Coulson tells her, and when she turns to his words he smiles at her.

She nods and leads them both to the restaurant.

At first the fact that they are obviously being watched by the press is awkward. Daisy orders quite a bit of food - she didn’t use her powers today, so she’s not in need of replenishment, she simply likes eating, Coulson notices with a smile.

There are cameras outside the diner, like they are some kind of Hollywood stars. Coulson thinks about how the basis of his work in SHIELD, once upon a time, was anonymity, his ability to blend in, no, his ability to be invisible. He feels the opposite of invisible now - and he knows none of this would have happened if he hadn’t met Daisy Johnson. He’d still be that anonymous company man. For that alone he can’t resent being hounded by paparazzi that much.

Eventually they lose interest and they leave and it’s just the two of them sharing a booth, sharing a meal. Just Daisy and Coulson and it feels kind of normal.

Daisy’s spirits lifts once the press is gone and she orders some more food and treats Coulson to a collection of rare relaxed smiles.

“You know you’re the second person in my team who _pretends_ to be my boyfriend?” she tells him.

“Really? When?”

“Fitz. The mission in Italy. Before the whole Quinn shooting me and me almost dying.”

And me injecting you with alien material I didn’t know if it was going to kill you, Coulson adds mentally. At this point it’s just a knee-jerk reaction, a moment of remembered apprehension. It was so behind them, and considering Daisy’s heritage it’s hard not to see it as part of her path anyway, he doesn’t regret it, it saved her life, even if he still knows he did wrong.

“Fitz, uh?” he ponders. “So, how am I comparing?”

“You look a lot less scared,” Daisy tells him.

He chuckles. Okay, maybe he even laughs.

 

**iv.**

“Do you mind if I take a picture of you?”

He turns, a bit startled, his heart all askew for a moment. Daisy is standing in front of him, her hair in a comfortable ponytail, cheeks red and brow shining with sweat, straight from the gym, in her workout clothes.

“Why?”

“You’re cooking,” she explains.

Coulson looks down at the pan. It’s a bit of a tradition. If the world is not about to end on Sunday morning he flexes his cooking muscles a bit, treats himself to something more than reheated coffee.

“Can I take a picture of you cooking?” Daisy asks again. “I’ll post it and say you’re cooking for me.”

Right. Sometimes he forgets. The whole charade. 

“Sure, go ahead,” he says and Daisy does, and he thinks well, there’s something easier. “I have plenty of eggs, I can make breakfast for you. For real I mean. Not Instagram lies.”

Daisy smiles. “Instagram lies, I like that,” she says. “I’d also like some scrambled eggs, thank you.”

Coulson cracks a couple more eggs and starts making Daisy’s breakfast. It’s different, she likes a bit of hot in it, but not so salty. Daisy takes a new picture, so that she could correctly label it as her boyfriend cooking for her. More or less correctly, anyway.

“ _The bae is making breakfast for two_ ,” he reads from her phone, holding her wrist between his fingers. “Bae?”

“It’s slang,” Daisy says, sitting at the kitchen table. “It means, I don’t know, _beloved_ , so hey, technically I’m not lying to anyone.”

Coulson feels himself blush a bit at that. He knows how close to him Daisy feels, the affection between them, she’s not wrong, but the word _beloved_ sounds a little too intense to him. 

“Thank you,” he tells her, because it’s nice to hear one is appreciated, it’s especially nice to hear someone like Daisy thinks of him that way, gives him that role in her life.

He puts the plates in front of Daisy and himself and they start eating. He didn’t plan to have breakfast with her - they normally have mismatched schedules in the morning, what with Daisy’s disciplined regime of training - but he’s pleased the simple business of taking a photograph turned out like this. It makes him think of the diner the other day; they only entered because Daisy needed the press to believe she was indeed unavailable, but in the end he had a great time hanging out, and he thinks Daisy did too.

“It doesn’t feel much like a lie, right?” Daisy says, but it sounds more like a distracted thought expressed out loud than a question.

“What?” Coulson asks.

“Saying we’re dating,” she answers. “Sitting like this right now, one wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”

Coulson doesn’t knows what to say to that.

 

**v.**

“I thought you were dead,” she says, her voice rough and tired, a drop of blood on her chin.

“I thought you were too,” Coulson replies, breathless, as Daisy’s fingers dig almost painfully into his shoulders, as if she is trying to confirm he’s alive.

They stare at each other. He can hear both their hearts beating, it’s a strange experience, like his whole body had an echo inside him.

Then the flashes from the cameras, an intrusive microphone hovering around. Behind the microphone a woman. National television, Coulson figures with a cursory glance at her clothes, the camera’s equipment.

“Is that all?” the newscaster asks. Daisy blinks, taking too long to tear her gaze from Coulson’s eyes, looking confused at someone else intruding in the moment.

“What?”

The press come closer, in a semicircle around them. Daisy’s grip loosens, but she still doesn’t let go off him, Coulson holding her elbow in his hand, holding her up.

“You almost lost each other,” the same journalist as before presses. “Is that all? No hug? No kiss?”

“We’re…” Daisy stutters. “We’re just… not big on PDA.”

Coulson can almost taste the disbelief in the air. Daisy is not convincing. At this point Coulson knows it will be more trouble for Daisy if people find out she’s been lying about being in a relationship. She’d be called a liar, and she’d look pathetic. Coulson knew it was a bad idea to go along with this plan. But now the only thing he can do is try to fix this. And maybe, because they almost died, the adrenaline is helping a bit with that.

“They’re right,” he says, throwing a fake smile at the paparazzi.

“What?” Daisy asks, turning to him again.

They are standing close enough already, it’s not that much of a stretch. He cups Daisy’s chin in his hand and presses his lips to hers. Not too hard - he wants to help Daisy, not make her uncomfortable.

 

**vi.**

_it’s sad, you were cute together!!_

Reads one answer to the post.

The post where Daisy publicly declares that she and her boyfriend have broken up. Coulson worries it’s because of yesterday’s kiss. That it made Daisy too uncomfortable to keep up with this charade. Or maybe she’s found something she wants to date for real - no, Coulson knows her too well, they spend most of their days together, he’d know if there was someone she was interested in.

He doesn’t bring it up for the next couple of days. It’s none of his business, Daisy has every right to end their fake arrangement whenever she wants.

Still, what he feels, well, he knows it’s slight disappointment.

Then they run into trouble in a mission (when don’t they?) and he bruises the muscles in his shoulder in the process and suddenly they are alone in the Zephyr’s cargo bay and Daisy is handing him an ice pack.

“I think this will do,” she tells him, she’s still in her Quake uniform, looking at him not with worry (he’s okay) but with that sort of disappointment in herself Coulson sees in her face every time someone gets hurt following her. Unnecessary but try telling that to Daisy.

He thinks this is a good moment to bring it up, without knowing exactly why he’s so eager to bring it up.

“I saw you broke up with me,” he jokes.

He watches her freeze a bit.

“Oh, that, yeah,” she mostly mutters, while she reaches out her hand to press on the ice pack herself, gesturing for Coulson to keep applying pressure.

He lets a beat pass.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kissed you without asking,” he says. He should have started with that.

Daisy frowns and takes a couple of steps back from him. “You think I did it _because of that_?”

He nods.

“No. I meant it when I thanked you for what you did. You were trying to help.”

“Then I don’t-”

“It’s unfair to you,” she replies, cutting him off. “This whole charade.”

“I told you I don’t mind.”

“Of course you don’t. But I’m taking advantage of you.”

“Advantage? You needed a favor, it’s just that,” Coulson insists.

Daisy takes another step back. He leaves the ice pack over one of the seats and stands up, following Daisy across the cargo bay.

“I’m taking advantage because I no longer care about those freaks in my Instagram comments,” she says.

“Daisy?”

“I was doing it because I liked it,” she tells him. “I liked imagining you were my boyfriend, and you cooked for me and we went on dates. Pathetic, uh?”

She looks down at the floor and then back at Coulson again. He can’t stand that expression in her face, reproaching herself, ashamed, and with a glimpse of hope for something else.

His shoulder hurts when he reaches his arm and pulls Daisy towards him, but that’s fine. He kisses her and this time it’s not a lie or a favor or, if he’s being honest about what has been going on, an excuse. His mouth dances over hers, his tongue parting her lips easily. Daisy kisses back but for the length of that first (or second?) kiss she seems to willingly give up control, let Coulson lead, trust him with something this big.

His good arm goes around her back, wrapping around it, pulling her closer. He feels Daisy’s arms against his chest, the hard metal of his gauntlets as she lifts her hands.

“I think I took advantage too,” he says when he breaks the kiss, breathless and looking at her eyes so close, so close, he didn’t know they looked like that, even prettier than he thought. He has to close his eyes for a moment, it’s too much, who would believe someone like Daisy could date someone like him, who would believe she could have feeling for him for real and not just something fake between them. Their foreheads touch for a moment, Coulson can feel her smiling before he opens his eyes again.

“Really?” she asks in a soft voice. Still unsure. Like he’s still doing her some kind of favor.

He nods. “I was really happy when you asked me to do this.”

Daisy strokes his cheek, dropping her fingers to Coulson’s lips.

“You were?”

He nods. Daisy is pressed against him, and it occurs to him that his shoulder has stopped hurting.

“I knew it was a fantasy but-”

“It was a nice fantasy,” Daisy finishes. He nods again. “I don’t want it to be a fantasy.”

This time she kisses him. That’s much better.

This is going to be a tough one to explain to her fans, he thinks.


End file.
